Fuel pump leak.......

[Patrick]

Wife's 91 golf 1.6 NA has sprung a leak on the backside of the injection pump.  Looks like it MIGHT be at that oddball looking plug that (I think) has to do with the timing advance, or maybe where the head bolts on. Fuel is running of a boss for a vertical bolt hole.........
What's chances of pulling the pump off and changing an o-ring or something and putting it back on?  Or should I try one of the pumps I have on the shelf? got a couple good turbo pumps, one NA pump in unknown condition.

[vanbcguy]

Probably the cold start advance... Seen a lot of people report that leaking on their pumps.  I think it's FAIRLY simple to repair - there's definitely some threads about that on here.

[burn_your_money]

If it's the cold start then yeah it's pretty easy. If it's the head o-ring it's a big job. Either way the pump needs to come off.

[Patrick]

Thanks guys. Figured it will have to come off. drips off the end of the pump near the head...........
Going to have a better look at it tonight with a small mirror while it's running.

[Patrick]

Looks like it is the head o-ring. Tried pulling apart a pump off the shelf to see  what I'm getting into. Got all the torx bolts out, head won't come off. Do I need to pull anything else to get the head off? I'm not having much luck with the search............

[Patrick]

skip it. Got the head off my practice piece, NOT going to attempt this on the car!

[theman53]

If I remember right when changing that seal you aren't supposed to take the pump head off. Just stretch it over and remove one bolt at a time...pull the pump head out just enough to get the seal on and put it all back.

I haven't done it just read about it.

[burn_your_money]

NOT going to attempt this on the car!

Smart. It's not worth the risk in my opinion.

If you do change your mind and attempt it in the car, follow Andrew's method. There are a lot of wrong way's to do it posted on the net.

[Patrick]

Thanks guys, but I see too many things to go wrong. I'm just going to swap pumps until I find a good one. I've got one NA pump on the shelf condition unknown. Also have 2 turbo pumps (one partially dissassembled!) and two more on engines, one of which I know is good.  Might wind up sending the takeout pump to Giles/tyler for a reseal.......

[Patrick]

Update:

1st pump I tried looks like it will work. Took a little fussing, but it fired.  I'm a little confused. Dial indicator said I couldn't get anywhere close to where I should be, so I decided to see if it would fire up (it did) and go from there. Lots to put back together yet, but headed in the right direction. Did someone put out an aftermarket pump with no markings on the front? Looks like a Bosch, but there's no numbers on the boss on the front of the pump where there should be. There's some numbers on the boss on the BACK of the pump, don't look like the standard Bosch stuff. Suppose I should have taken a picture.....   

[burn_your_money]

You should take a picture. Typically (but not always) if the numbers are stamped on that side of the housing then it's a left hand rotation pump.

VW also used laser etching (or something similar) on some of the later pumps and it wears off very easily. You could have one of those ones.

[Patrick]

Too late to get the numbers that ARE on the pump, they're on the back and it's in the car. Rotates the right way (car runs). I'll finish putting it together in the morning. I'll check the timing again in the morning too. couldn't seem to rotate it far enough to get the advance I like to run, but we'll see. Is there anything inside the pump that might have been stuck in the advance mechanism? pump was on an engine I had sitting in a trailer for two or three years. Condition of the engine unknown, came out of a '91 jetta with about 440,000 km that was headed for the crusher.

[burn_your_money]

If you can't get the number you are looking for on the dial gauge then move the pump pulley one tooth

[Patrick]

Thought of that, but haven't tried it yet. Haven't figured out WHY it's happening.......

[Patrick]

Had to jump it one tooth, haven't figured out why. Runs fine, but a little short on power compared to the last pump. If the wife wants more I'll have to turn a screw......